UPDATE: Daiwa Capital Markets Downgrades Spreadtrum Communications to Underperform

Daiwa Capital Markets lowered its rating on Spreadtrum Communications SPRD but raised its price target from $18.24 to $18.40. Daiwa Capital Markets noted, "Spreadtrum's share price has risen by 49% in the past five months on the street's high expectations for its TD-SCDMA handset-IC shipments, a view that we do not share now, and we believe now is a good time to take profits. … We believe Spreadtrum's share price is likely to be capped in the next six months by: 1) a weaker 2013 outlook for the TD-SCDMA handset IC market vs. our prior expectations, and 2) MediaTek's (2545 TT, NT$330, Buy [1]) aggressive upcoming release schedule for its TD-SCDMA smartphone ICs." Spreadtrum Communications closed at $20.97 on Monday.